


You Can Have Manhattan

by flowerfan



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M, Spoilers, relationship angst, season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-15 04:57:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2216613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerfan/pseuds/flowerfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt comes home to find Blaine singing Sara Bareilles' "Manhattan," and he is determined not to let that song sum up their relationship.  </p><p>Inspired by season 6 spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can Have Manhattan

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't know Sara Bareilles' song "Manhattan," I urge you to listen to it on You Tube first. It is incredibly beautiful and sad, and has been haunting me with Klaine feels for days.

Kurt could hear the song as he approached the door to the loft, Blaine’s plaintive voice dancing over the piano. It had been a long day, just one in a series of ridiculously long days, and it wasn’t even the weekend yet. He had been looking forward to some peace and quiet, but it seemed that Blaine had other ideas.

_You can have Manhattan, I know it’s for the best_  
 _I’ll gather up the avenues, and leave them on your doorstep._  
 _And I’ll tiptoe away, so you won’t have to say_  
 _You heard me leave._

Kurt pushed open the door and walked over to Blaine, who was so absorbed in the music he didn’t even notice Kurt come in. He took in Blaine’s hunched shoulders and tight plaid shirt, hair gelled down flat to his head. He couldn’t see Blaine’s face, and as he listened to the words to the song, he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

_You can have Manhattan, I know it’s what you want_  
 _The bustle of the buildings, the weather in the fall_  
 _And I’ll bow out of place, to save you some space_  
 _For somebody new._  
 _You can have Manhattan, ‘cause I can’t have you._

“Blaine?” Kurt said softly, his heart clenching when Blaine glanced back over his shoulder at him, his eyes red and puffy. Blaine turned back to the piano and kept playing.

_You can have Manhattan, the one we used to share_  
 _The one where we were laughing, and drunk on just being there_  
 _Hang on to the reverie, could you do that for me?_  
 _Cause I’m just too sad to_  
 _You can have Manhattan, ‘cause I can’t have you._

“Blaine, what’s going on?”

Blaine took a deep breath as if to continue with the next verse, then stilled his hands on the piano, leaning forward over the keys. Kurt sat down on the bench, but Blaine remained stiff next to him.

“Madame Tibideaux says I should do the NYADA Arts Away program next semester. She says I’m burning out. I’ll get class credit, and grant money.” 

Kurt let his breath out, not even realizing until that moment that he had been holding it. That wasn’t so bad. Just more school stress. Not easy, but nothing new. “That could be fun. Did she have a school in mind for you? I know a lot of the schools in Brooklyn have lost funding for the arts.”

Blaine didn’t answer, and Kurt put a hand on his thigh. He could swear Blaine almost flinched in response. Finally Blaine took a deep breath, and turned to look at Kurt. “I’m going home.”

“What?” You’re already home, dumbass, he thought, confused.

“To Ohio. That is, I wanted to talk to you about it. I haven’t made any decisions yet. But I think it might be the right thing to do.”

Kurt felt dizzy. “I don’t understand.”

“Schools in Columbus have had their music programs practically eliminated over the past few years, too. There’s one in particular that Madame Tibideaux thinks could really use me. And afterschool I could coach the Warblers a few times a week – the dean has finally decided that they need some adult supervision. Not sure why he thinks I’d qualify…”

“But,” Kurt is grasping for words, this isn’t making any sense, “but you don’t have to go to Ohio to teach music, you could do the program here, right?”

Blaine sighed, burying his face in his hands. “Don’t make this harder than it is, Kurt.”

“Well, explain it to me, then, please, because I don’t see why you have to go to Ohio when there are plenty of kids that could use your help here.”

Blaine scrubbed his hands over his face and raised his head. “Are you really so deep in denial that you don’t see it? This isn’t working, Kurt,” he said firmly, clenching his teeth. “We did okay this summer, even with everyone leaving, but since school started we’ve both been miserable. We fight all the time. You always seem so… disappointed in me. I can’t do anything right, and I feel like shit approximately 50% of the time we’re together.”

Kurt felt himself start to shake, and clasped his hands together. His finger brushed over his engagement ring, but he didn't let himself look down at it. This can’t be happening. Sure, they fight a lot, but that’s normal, isn’t it? “Blaine, we can work on this, we fixed it before, we can fix it again.”

Blaine stood up and started to pace back and forth. “You know how my mom calls me every Sunday night?” Kurt nodded. “Well, when I was growing up, her mom used to call her every Sunday night. And half the time she’d stay on too long, and my dad would get impatient, because he wanted her attention, or he wanted to use the phone, or whatever. And he’d say something sharp to her, maybe he thought it was teasing, but just a little bit too mean. And I could see this flash of hurt go across her face, and I’d jump up to distract him so she could stay on the phone, ask him to come watch tv with me, or get some ice cream from the kitchen.” Blaine paused, sitting down on the couch and fiddling with the papers on the coffee table. “I don’t want our family to be like that, Kurt. I don’t want our children to feel like they have to act as a buffer between us.”

Kurt forced himself to breathe, searching for something to say to make this better, and coming up short. “Do I really make you feel that way?”

Blaine covered his face with his hands, his shoulders starting to shake. “Sometimes,” he choked out. “I know I’m responsible too. I’m obviously not making you happy, or you wouldn’t be this way.”

Kurt slowly got up and went over to the couch, gingerly sitting down next to Blaine. “I love you,” he said softly. “You know that, right?” But Blaine just kept crying, as if his words made no difference. Kurt kept waiting for him to look up, and take him in his arms, but Blaine didn’t move. Suddenly he knew this wasn’t just another fight.

“Are you breaking up with me?” he whispered, his voice shaking.

It felt like an eternity before Blaine answered. “I don’t know what to do, Kurt.”

Kurt almost laughed. He was fairly sure that if he asked Blaine to stay, he would. That was part of the problem, wasn’t it. But he couldn’t bear to let him go.

“I’ll go to Ohio too.” The words were out of his mouth before he even had a chance to think it through.

“What?” Blaine looked up, surprised.

“If it’s okay with you, I mean. I could do the Arts Away program too. I can go back to McKinley and resurrect New Directions. Maybe get Rachel to help, since her pilot fell through.”

Blaine just stared at him, but Kurt wasn’t going to stop now. “We can be together, but each with our own separate projects. Take a break from all the awful people at NYADA, all the pressure, and do something good for a change.” Blaine had a look on his face that Kurt decided to interpret as hopeful, and he soldiered on. “A little bit of thoughtful separation worked for us before. We can’t give up on this, Blaine, we just can’t. When things are good between us, they’re really good, right?”

Blaine nodded, sniffling. “Yeah, they are.”

“I do love you. I don’t ever want to hurt you, and I can’t stand to think I’ve been doing it. The worst part is I sort of knew it, and I was afraid to pay attention. And I knew you wouldn’t call me on it, so it just kept going. I know that sounds bad. But I’m not ready to give up. I want to keep trying. If you want to.” 

“You really think we can work this out?” Blaine asked, biting his lip.

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut. “Maybe? But I think it’s worth it, if we can.” He paused, then asked nervously, “do you still love me?” 

Blaine hesitated, and for a moment Kurt thought his heart had stopped beating. Then Blaine nodded again, and fell against Kurt, his arms wrapping tightly around him. “I do, of course I do. So much.”

Kurt pulled Blaine snug against him, and just held him close, letting Blaine bury his face against his neck. He really didn’t know if they were ever going to get to a place where they could just be happy, without constantly hurting each other, but he was sure that letting Blaine go back to Ohio without him wasn’t the solution. Not if they wanted to try to stay together. “So what do you say? May I accompany you on your Ohio adventure? Possibly by way of the bedroom for a little make-up sex?”

Thankfully, Blaine laughed, pulling back and giving Kurt a teary smile. “So you’re going to bribe me into letting you come to Ohio with me by offering make-up sex?”

“Is it working?”

“I don’t know, Ohio’s pretty awesome. You might need to throw in a massage, too.”

“Deal.” They headed off to the bedroom, Kurt’s hand on the small of Blaine’s back. They had to find a way to get along. Kurt Hummel was not about to let a sad Sara Bareilles song sum up their relationship. Maybe going back to their roots would help them get their teenage dream back on course.


End file.
